25 Feb 1966 - USS Queenfish (SSN 651) is launched

USS Queenfish (SSN-651), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the queenfish, a small food fish found off the Pacific coast of North America.

The contract to build Queenfish was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 26 March 1963 and her keel was laid down there on 11 May 1964. She was launched on 25 February 1966, sponsored by the Honorable Julia Butler Hansen (1907–1988), U.S. Representative from Washington's 3rd Congressional District (1960–1974), and commissioned on 6 December 1966 with Commander Jackson B. Richard in command.

Queenfish was launched one day ahead of the lead ship of her class, the Sturgeon, despite being laid down 18 months later, and as a result of a multi-million dollar bonus offered by the Navy to the Newport News shipyard.

Queenfish was deactivated on 21 September 1990, decommissioned on 8 November 1991 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 April 1992. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, began on 1 May 1992 and was completed on 7 April 1993.

Thanks to Stephen Hallquirst

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USS Carbonero Members Hold Tolling Of The Boats On Oct. 13

Members of the USS Carbonero Base, U.S. Submarine Veterans, will honor the memories of over 4,000 submariners lost in the line of duty in a formal public ceremony to recognize their service, on Oct. 13, at Chattanooga National Cemetery, beginning at 11 a.m.

Service in submarines is an inherently dangerous business, and since the founding of the U.S. submarine force in 1900, 65 submarines and over 4,000 men have given up their lives. The great majority of these young lives were lost during WWII when 52 submarines were lost.

It is the duty of the members of United States submarine veterans to publicly honor them so that their gallant service and sacrifice is never forgotten.

The general public is invited to join in honoring these fallen heroes of the U.S. submarine force.

United States Submarine Veterans is a National Veterans Fraternal Organization chartered in 1964 and recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(19) entity. With over 13,000 members and 150 chapters (bases) nationwide, it is the largest organization of submarine qualified veterans in the world.

Visit www.ussvi.org or call 360-337-2978 for more information.

If you’d like more information on this topic, please contact Alan W. Syler at 423 843-1590 or via email at asyler@comcast.net.